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The Abyss
Synopsis Two men run through the woods. They are being chased by some monstrous-looking creatures who turn out to be men in animal skins. The men call out to each other; they are Virgil and Hosep. Hosep gets his foot caught in a trap, and the men/creatures get him. "Help me, Virgil!" he cries. Virgil watches as Hosep is carried away. A deer stands in a glen. Gabrielle, with a bow and arrow, takes aim. She shoots, and misses. Xena says, good shot. Gabrielle says she is having a bad day. Xena says no, the deer is just having a better day than Gabrielle. Gabrielle says she supposes they will eat fish again. Xena says that's okay with her; Gabrielle was the one who had a taste for venison. Gabrielle looks sad. Xena looks concerned. Xena and Gabrielle are in a canoe. They talk about finding Virgil and Hosep, whom they are meeting. They see a campsite, and stop. Xena says it's about four hours old. Gabrielle says there is blood on everything. Gabrielle wonders if it was theives. Xena finds a sword with a skull on it. No, she says. Not theives. Virgil, who apparently followed the men/creatures to see about his friend, watches from the brush as men fight over food. He realizes that, on a spit over a fire, is a person. They have been skewered and coated with something, and have a tube sticking out of their mouth, and are being cooked. Virgil realizes these guys are cannibals. Xena and Gabrielle, still in the canoe, call out for Virgil. Xena says she hopes they escaped down the river. They have a discussion about Gabrielle's killing of Desert Boy in Legacy. Gabrielle says her instincts are that of a warrior, but her judgment is not. Virgil watches the cannibals a bit more, then takes off running. He sets off a trap or an alarm. Xena and Gabrielle examine the waters and the river bank. They are still in the canoe. Xena says they are being watched. Xena says they have to keep going, but there is a waterfall up ahead, so they will soon have to go forward on foot. Virgil runs for his life. He is chased and caught in a net. He is carried off. Gabrielle tells Xena that if she'd listened to her heart, maybe Desert Boy would still be alive. Xena says she killed to protect Xena, and Xena says she is glad to know that she can trust her own life to Gabrielle. Especially right then. They are attacked from beneath the water. The canoe is skewered, and two guys come up after then. Xena and Gabrielle knock them both away. The two women make it to shore. More cannibals come up and attack them. They fight. Xena has three or more fellows. Gabrielle has fewer. Gabrielle gets one guy down, and she goes to stab him, but she sees Desert Boy, and hesitates. She gets stabbed in the side. Xena sees that Gabrielle is hurt, and calls her name. Gabrielle goes down, but keeps fighting. One of the guys picks Gabrielle up, and the bard yells for Xena. Gabrielle kicks and twists and ends up in the river, yelling for Xena as she goes in. Xena dives in after her, and they both head for the waterfall. Gabrielle fights the water, and cries out for Xena. Her foot catches on something, and she is pulled under. Xena yells for Gabrielle, but can't find her. She dives down, searching. She eventually finds her and pulls her to shore, to a small water-filled cavern. Gabrielle is unconscious, but she spits up and comes to quickly. Xena holds her. Gabrielle says, what was with those guys, they kept biting us. Xena tells Gabrielle they were cannibals. Xena looks at Gabrielle's wound. Part of the blade is still in her side. Xena cuts in out, lecturing Gabrielle on not pausing during a fight as she does so. She tells Gabrielle she can't think about Desert Boy when she is fighting. Gabrielle tells Xena to can the lecture. Xena sends Gabrielle back into the cave, and goes out. She climbs a rock wall, but the cannibals, above, throw rocks at Xena until they knock her off and back into the water. Xena disappears beneath the water. She reappears back in the cave with Gabrielle. Gabrielle's wound is festering. Gabrielle is shaking with fever and cold. Xena says they'll get out. Virgil finds himself surrounded by hungry cannibals. He sees the bones of his friend being picked clean, and freaks. He starts fighting and is quickly conked on the head. Xena holds Gabrielle, who is feverish. Hope? Gabrielle says. Is that you? I love you. I would never hurt you. My child. You have to go. She'll hurt you. She'll take you away. You don't understand. Xena cries and says she does understand. "I understand everything." The waters run red. Virgil is awakened in a cell by a skinny man. There is lots of food and water for Virgil, to fatten him up. The skinny guy says he hasn't been eaten yet because he isn't fat enough; the cannibals are saving him for a rainy day. Xena tells Gabrielle she is getting her out of the damp cave, because she is getting worse. Gabrielle says she has a last request. Xena says she doesn't want to hear it for another 50 years. Gabrielle tells Xena she doesn't want to be buried with the Amazons. She wants to buried with Xena and her family in Amphipolis. She says she is a part of Xena. "I love you," Gabrielle says. They clasp hands. Xena sheds silent tears. Xena says all of this is her fault, that she put Gabrielle on the wrong path. Gabrielle says any path is the right path, as long as she is with Xena. Xena climbs the rock wall with Gabrielle strapped to her back. It is raining. Gabrielle is cold, wet, and feverish. Xena sees torches everywhere; they are pretty much surrounded. Xena tells Gabrielle to trust her. Then Xena does her war cry, and runs and hides. The cannibals come and find Gabrielle lying at the edge of the cliff. The cannibals take Gabrielle, and Xena watches them go. She follows them. Several cannibals attack her. She fights them. Virgil sees the door to his cell open. Gabrielle is brought in. They have a brief reunion, then the cannibals return. They put Gabrielle on a table and force some stuff down her throat after looking at the wound in her side. Then they do mumbo jumbo and put herbs on her wound. Gabrielle is semi-conscious. The cannibals leave. The skinny guys says the cannibals will do anything to see that their meat doesn't go bad on them. Xena, wearing a fur she took off of one of the cannibals who attacked her earlier, sneaks into camp. Gabrielle tells Virgil to be ready when Xena comes. Xena watches the cannibals do chants and dances and eat people parts. Xena goes to the waterfall. She uses her chakram to cut a tree, and her sword to cut trees, and she moves rocks, stones, and half the mountain to create a dam. She stops the waterfall. Virgil nurses Gabrielle. Her fever breaks, but she is weak. Gabrielle tells Virgil this is her fault because she lost her nerve and couldn't kill a cannibal. Virgil says her compassion is a good thing. The cannibals come and take Gabrielle. Virgil says, take me instead. The cannibals carry off Gabrielle, and Virgil screams out her name a dozen times. Xena hears his cries, and starts running through the forest. She is attacked by more cannibals. She fights them. Gabrielle sees human bones being picked clean. Xena continues fighting the cannibals on the camp perimeter. Gabrielle, tied up and on a stick, has stuff smeared all over her. Xena continues to fight. Gabrielle cries out for Xena just before a pipe thing is stuck into her mouth. Xena does her war cry, and somersaults into camp. Gabrielle frees herself and picks up a big stick. She uses the stick as a staff and starts whacking. Xena does her fire trick, and then spills lots of liquids, and sets lots of fires. She tosses the chakram and it pops out a whole slew of cannibals. She tells Gabrielle to free Virgil and get to the horses. Xena fights off cannibals, and Virgil fights a few while Gabrielle leads the skinny guy to the horses. They get on the horses, and call to Xena. Xena gives the chakram one last toss, and then runs to the horses. They all ride away. The cannibals chase them. Xena leads them to the dam. Xena says she is going back to lead the cannibals under the waterfall. She wants Virgil and Gabrielle to stay above, and cut the vine that is holding the stones and logs in place. Four or five cannibals search for Virgil and Gabrielle, who hide. Xena does her yell, and draws most of the cannibals after her. She runs, with the whole tribe chasing after her. Xena races through the woods. Gabrielle finds her sais, and remembers killing Desert Boy again. Xena gets beneath the waterfall. Up above, the cannibals see the vine. Gabrielle makes a decision and stabs the cannibal. Xena yells for Gabrielle to cut the vine. But Gabrielle is being attacked and is fighting off cannibals, as is Virgil. Xena faces the entire tribe. They come after her, all of them at once. "Gabrielle!" Xena cries. Gabrielle kills another cannibal, and then slices the vine. Everything begins to fall, and Xena does a super somersault and clings to the cliff wall while the logs, stones and water crash down on the cannibals. Later, after they've all cleaned up, Xena asks Gabrielle how she feels "upstairs." Gabrielle says she feels better. She says she will learn to live with her mistakes. She says that is the way. The skinny guy says, what way? Xena looks at him. Who are you, anyway? she says. The skinny guy starts to say something, but Virgil shuts him up. Xena and Gabrielle look at each other. Memorable quotes Cast * Lucy Lawless as Xena * Reneé O'Connor as Gabrielle Background information and notes Continuity and mistakes Disclaimer